So whilst i was away the My OVO app showed i was burning 30p a day of gas. Now i use NEST so i turned the thermostat to off before going
I have no other gas appliance so unsure what to-do, i have OVO smart meters so could they be sending false data?
Solved
Using gas whilst away, how is this possible?
Best answer by Mw2870
Updated on 15/08/25 by Abby_OVO
I was interested in your post as I have also been looking at my gas consumption when I am not at home since my Smart Meter was installed.
On days I am not in the house for a whole 24hour period, MyOVO shows that the Gas cost for the day was £0.33. This seems to be consistent across the month.
This is made up of 28.77p standing charge and then 1.4 kwh of use @ 2.66p per kWH.
So 32.494p in total (I guess My OVO always rounds up in the graph).
So I was curious as to what is using the 1.4 kwh of Gas.... I have two Gas Appliances, a Vaillant Combi Boiler which does hot water and heating and a gas hob.
Now I know for sure the hob wasn't turned on, and I too have a Nest system so I know that the heating wasn't turned on at all (from the history in Nest).
So I have three theories
1) The Boiler occasionally uses a tiny bit of gas? Some sort of maintenance safety feature...
2) I have the worlds smallest gas leak
3) The meter is creeping when no gas is being used
I plan to test these theories by switching the boiler off completely and seeing if I get the same result next time I go away.
So just an update on this now that the summer is here!
The conclusion, my meter is definitely not creeping forwards on its own and it is the boiler that is using gas, even when it is not being used!
So even though I have a combi boiler, with no hot water tank and I know the heating is not being used, it still seems to used around 1kWh of Gas per day. Next time the annual service is due I will ask the plumber to see if he knows why.
So in the summer I can turn it off completely before I go away (no pilot light so easy to switch off and on), but in the Winter I will probably leave on when away as the thermostat will cut in if the temperature drops to prevent the pipes freezing and it is nice to turn the heating on when you are on your way home!
It’s very rare for smart meters to over-clock your usage, if you’re concerned about the accuracy of your meter see this guide for how to test for a faulty meter. If you’re looking at your online account, make sure you’re looking at data using meter readings, and that it’s not been estimated.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that even when you’re away from home your daily standing charge is still applied which might help explain the usage costs you see on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS), whilst your home is empty.
If you are noticing minimal charges over the daily standing charge it’s possible that your boiler/pilot light uses a small amount of gas, even when your heating is switched off.
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+4Hi
I’m glad this was sorted for you eventually. It’s great that the reads are coming through daily now as well - makes everything much more accurate, and also improves the ‘Usage’ pages of your online account / app. I’d recommend logging into your online account / app and making sure that the read schedule is half-hourly if it’s not already, as this provides the most accuracy. These guides will let you know how to do this, and how to check the Usage pages:
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